Artists React To The Politics Of Now

“Art doesn’t tell you what to think—it tells you to think”
byRachael Rifkin

Françoise Mouly, art director of The New Yorker, and her daughter, writer Nadja Spiegelman, helped produce Resist!, a free print issue of the newspaper Smoke Signal, featuring original comics and illustrations “on the theme of political resistance to the forces of intolerance,” which was passed out on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. and at the Women's Marches on January 21.

“Art is so effective. It offers the unique opportunity to enter into people’s brains and give them the elements of progressive thinking. Art doesn’t tell you what to think—it tells you to think. It challenges you to rethink. That’s important—to not let all your assumptions be locked into one configuration,” says Mouly.

After making a call for submissions on Facebook, Spiegelman says, “At first, we were getting images about the day after the election. Then we were getting images about the stages of grief. Then it was women together in the street, arm in arm, holding up placards that said, ‘Resist!’ Having a community and knowing we were all building something together was really, really heartening. It was important not to feel paralyzed.”

An important guiding principle for Mouly and Spiegelman was that submissions were open to everyone. They didn’t want their resistance to be about exclusivity—they wanted to feature women, men, nonbinary people, professional artists, 13-year-old girls. There was also a grassroots nature to it, with people handing out 60,000 copies across the country.

College freshman Aria Watson was too young to vote on Election Day, but that didn’t stop her from making her voice heard. Her photo project, which features nude women’s bodies covered with Trump’s sexist quotes, was for her final project for a photography class.

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

“I decided to voice my opinion by bringing my love for photography and opinion about Trump and his sexist comments, together. By writing his quotes on women's bare skin, it adds a more powerful effect,” says Watson. “You don’t just see these words written in an article, on the news, or in a Facebook status. Instead, you are seeing them on the women they affect.”

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

When she shared the project on social media, it quickly went viral. “I didn’t know how powerful art could be, and I had no idea it could bring so many people together. I didn’t know many people who shared the same beliefs as me. I felt alone when it came to my fear of Donald Trump being our president,” says Watson. “This project has brought so many wonderful people to me. I’ve met some of the kindest people who all believe in the same thing as me; we all believe in feminism and that Trump should be held responsible for what he says.”

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

Songwriter Alyssandra Nighswonger and community arts advocate Nicolassa Galvez filmed their three-week journey from Long Beach, California, to the Women’s March on Washington, capturing the untold stories of women they met along the way. These stories will become Road to the American Woman, a documentary about redefining what it means to be a woman today. At left, some women in Denver are preparing for their interview; at right, a roundtable discussion in Evanston, Wyoming.

Image used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez

“Women do not have to aspire to any definition, expectation or label. I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to fit an ideal that I didn’t even respect or expect of others. So, my message is that women need to unpack and redefine what it means to be a woman in America today,” says Galvez, who believes this type of art—storytelling and filmmaking—connects people who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet.

Image used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez

“There were pieces of nearly every story that I could relate to or that shifted my personal perspective of the world. Personal narratives are an important act of resistance,” said Galvez. “Storytelling is shaped by the person sharing, molded by the time in which it is told, and understood differently by each person listening. Storytelling has the power to narrate not only our past, but also our future.”

Photos by Jon Wallace, used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez

When it’s good, art cuts to the truth in a visceral way, faster and more forcefully than words. For three individual creators and art collectives—The New Yorker’s art director Françoise Mouly and her daughter Nadja Spiegelman; college student Aria Watson, whose intimate photographs about the real-life impact of Trump’s sexist quotes went viral; and documentary filmmakers Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez—the effect is much like that of a protest rally or march, awakening and uniting those who’d previously felt helpless or overwhelmed.

“The power of the artist to give you images that shape your thinking is too valuable to sit idle. Artists must engage in culture,” says Mouly. Spurred into action by the new administration’s stance on reproductive rights, freedom of expression, immigration, crime, and gender equality, the artists whose work is presented here have refused to be silenced or dehumanized. Their creations stand as evidence that even those with the most to lose still own their stories, lives, and choices.

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Françoise Mouly, art director of The New Yorker, and her daughter, writer Nadja Spiegelman, helped produce Resist!, a free print issue of the newspaper Smoke Signal, featuring original comics and illustrations “on the theme of political resistance to the forces of intolerance,” which was passed out on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. and at the Women's Marches on January 21.

“Art is so effective. It offers the unique opportunity to enter into people’s brains and give them the elements of progressive thinking. Art doesn’t tell you what to think—it tells you to think. It challenges you to rethink. That’s important—to not let all your assumptions be locked into one configuration,” says Mouly.

After making a call for submissions on Facebook, Spiegelman says, “At first, we were getting images about the day after the election. Then we were getting images about the stages of grief. Then it was women together in the street, arm in arm, holding up placards that said, ‘Resist!’ Having a community and knowing we were all building something together was really, really heartening. It was important not to feel paralyzed.”

An important guiding principle for Mouly and Spiegelman was that submissions were open to everyone. They didn’t want their resistance to be about exclusivity—they wanted to feature women, men, nonbinary people, professional artists, 13-year-old girls. There was also a grassroots nature to it, with people handing out 60,000 copies across the country.

College freshman Aria Watson was too young to vote on Election Day, but that didn’t stop her from making her voice heard. Her photo project, which features nude women’s bodies covered with Trump’s sexist quotes, was for her final project for a photography class.

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

“I decided to voice my opinion by bringing my love for photography and opinion about Trump and his sexist comments, together. By writing his quotes on women's bare skin, it adds a more powerful effect,” says Watson. “You don’t just see these words written in an article, on the news, or in a Facebook status. Instead, you are seeing them on the women they affect.”

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

When she shared the project on social media, it quickly went viral. “I didn’t know how powerful art could be, and I had no idea it could bring so many people together. I didn’t know many people who shared the same beliefs as me. I felt alone when it came to my fear of Donald Trump being our president,” says Watson. “This project has brought so many wonderful people to me. I’ve met some of the kindest people who all believe in the same thing as me; we all believe in feminism and that Trump should be held responsible for what he says.”

Image used with permission, courtesy Aria Watson

Songwriter Alyssandra Nighswonger and community arts advocate Nicolassa Galvez filmed their three-week journey from Long Beach, California, to the Women’s March on Washington, capturing the untold stories of women they met along the way. These stories will become Road to the American Woman, a documentary about redefining what it means to be a woman today. At left, some women in Denver are preparing for their interview; at right, a roundtable discussion in Evanston, Wyoming.

Image used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez

“Women do not have to aspire to any definition, expectation or label. I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to fit an ideal that I didn’t even respect or expect of others. So, my message is that women need to unpack and redefine what it means to be a woman in America today,” says Galvez, who believes this type of art—storytelling and filmmaking—connects people who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet.

Image used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez

“There were pieces of nearly every story that I could relate to or that shifted my personal perspective of the world. Personal narratives are an important act of resistance,” said Galvez. “Storytelling is shaped by the person sharing, molded by the time in which it is told, and understood differently by each person listening. Storytelling has the power to narrate not only our past, but also our future.”

Photos by Jon Wallace, used with permission, courtesy Alyssandra Nighswonger and Nicolassa Galvez